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Topic: Fiddle Bow |
Lyle Bradford
From:
Gilbert WV USA (deceased)
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Posted 24 Jan 2004 7:33 pm |
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| For you who play fiddle as a second instrument, What is a good fiddle bow? Just the average one that comes with the fiddle or a different one? |
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JERRY THURMOND
From:
sullivan mo u.s.a.
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Posted 25 Jan 2004 8:17 am
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| Most of the time a bow that comes with a new fiddle are not very good bows, unless you have paid for a really good fiddle, more then $500. Most good bows will cost at least $200 or more they are made of wood an has real horse hair. I am not saying that there is not some good bows for sale for less, I am just saying you get what you pay for. Jerry PS I have seen several bows that cost more then $1000, |
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Michael Haselman
From:
St. Paul
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Posted 25 Jan 2004 7:01 pm
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I've been playing fiddle for 20+ years and I've been using the fiberglass bow strung with horse hair. Not for virtuosos or purists, but it works fine on bar gigs. You can get one for $40-70 and when it needs to be rehaired, you just buy a new one.
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Marrs D-10, Webb 6-14E |
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Drew Howard
From:
48854
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Jerry Hayes
From:
Virginia Beach, Va.
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Posted 27 Jan 2004 5:26 am
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I aquired a very old fiddle from a death in the family a few years back. I had it appraised one time for a couple of thousand dollars. It had two bows in the case. One only had a few hairs left and one had none. I went to a violin shop in Norfolk and the guy traded me a new bow which he had priced at $149.95 for the two old bows. I thought I was getting a good deal but later I found out that sometimes a bow costs more than the dang fiddle...JH
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Livin' in the Past and the Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.
[This message was edited by Jerry Hayes on 27 January 2004 at 05:27 AM.] |
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Stephen Gambrell
From:
Over there
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Posted 27 Jan 2004 12:08 pm
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| It's not uncommon for a REAL Tourte bow to cost thousands. But they're kinda like "Stradivarius" violins, theone you're looking at probably ain't real. I can't play a fiddle, but it's unreal how much different a well-balanced, well made bow feels. |
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Leon Grizzard
From:
Austin, Texas, USA
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Posted 27 Jan 2004 2:37 pm
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| I think you need to spend $250 -$300 to get a decent bow. The cheap ones are not stiff enough. Pernambuco is the general wood for real bows, not brazil wood, and not hard wood, but pernambuco. There are composite bows in that same price range - some players like them okay and some don't like the lower priced ones. |
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John Kavanagh
From:
Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada * R.I.P.
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Posted 28 Jan 2004 10:28 am
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I heard a classical violin teacher/player say quite seriously once that if you were serious about the fiddle and had "only" $5000 to spend, you were better off buying a $2000 fiddle and a $3000 bow.
She may have been thinking that you could trade the fiddle up later and still be playing the bow you were used to, but
I can say myself that it's easier to learn to play well with a mediocre instrument than with a mediocre bow, so she may have been right on the nose about that.
$2000 is an entry-level violin for a classical player, but $3000 can buy a pretty serious bow. Not what the symphony guys play, but a fair-to-middlin' stick.
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